The full experience of Rodrigo y Gabriela is hardly realized until you witness the duo in a live setting. Well, you can do so now without leaving your living room with the release of Rodrigo y Gabriela Live in Japan. It marks the duo's first ever performance in Japan, recorded this past March, and takes advantage of the captivating energy and mind-blowing musicianship they bring to the stage.

For those of us pining for a follow-up to their self-titled album Live in Japan satisfies that itch. The album opens with a brand new song, appropriately titled for this album, "OK Tokyo". Also, for the first time on record both Rod and Gab launch into individual solo's towards the tail-end of the set. And as always the cover selections are brilliant. The duo turn "Take Five" into an almost hypnotic trance and Metallica's "One" is almost unrecognizable blanketed in the sheer beauty of the two delicate, yet dazzling guitars.

Loaded with full fury and over-the-top enthusiasm from the captivated crowd the show is brought to a close with the Rod and Gab staples "Tamacun" and "Diablo Rojo". If you've never seen this duo live, or if you're a real guitar enthusiast, Live in Japan is a must listen.

The popular and innovative Verve//Remixed series adds another compilation to its credit this holiday season. The eighth release in their series, Verve//Remixed Christmas is witness to classic holiday songs from legendary acts like Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday remixed by contemporary DJ's and producers.

The most gratifying part of the compilation is that the remixes do not overpower the vision of the original songs. So often when you hear remixes, the common mistake is to do too much. And to the credit of each producer on this compilation the remixes are done tastefully, leavingthe integrity of each track at large.

Also, the tendency with holiday compilationsis to overwhelm them with too many established songs. While Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" and Shirley Horn's "Winter Wonderland" will fill that craving for a familiar favorite, Verve//Remixed Christmas balances the disc with seasonal songs that you perhaps haven't heard in a while, like Nina Simone's "Chilly Winds."

If your holiday soundtrack feels a little tired, Verve//Remixed Christmas might be the answer, a sure bet to turn some heads at your holiday parties this season.

Well, if you hadn't noticed new wave is back and The Killers just jumped to the front of the line with the release of their third album Day & Age. Frontman Brandon Flowers and company have produced a shimmering, dance inspired record full of disco-ball anthems.

If Sam's Town represented the lost hopes "two-star town" Vegas, than Day & Age is its glitzy, "dreams on high" city of sin counterpart. And while The Killers are often a soft target for critics, it really is difficult not to be engaged with Day & Age. The band, with purpose, has expanded their sound. With their pop sensibilities harnessed, experimentation with funk rhythms ("Joy Ride") and Caribbean beats ("I Can't Stay") add another dimension to the bands arsenal.

Again, the centerpiece of any record from The Killers is the paradox that is Brandon Flowers. He sings all his songs with confidence and swagger, but the songs themselves lead you to believe quite the opposite. And oddly enough, it’s endearing. Probably because we like our rock stars to be mysterious, complicated and even a bit tormented at times. But as Flowers' insecurities become clear on "“Losing Touch" it's tough not to sing and sway along.

It's hard to say whether or not Day & Age is a new direction for The Killers. Perhaps it's better just to say it's another direction for the band that continues to keep us wondering what's next.

As was true with their first album nearly 15 years ago, The Fireman does their best to downplay their Fab Four roots. Electric Arguments is the third album from the duo of UK producer Youth and Sir Paul McCartney. And while for McCartney the collaboration serves as more of an artistic excursion, this time around the transition is not quite as abrupt.

The album opener, "Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight," a stomping electro-blues rocker does little to prove this theory. However, the thrilling romp challenges like a Black Keys record, with an almost unnoticeable raspy vocal performance from McCartney. The track does its best to dismiss aspirations any Beatles fan may have when Sir Paul's alias is revealed, but with the straight ahead rocker "Highway" and sweet, simplistic "Two Magpies" some middle ground is offered up.

And as the mood of the album ebbs and flows and styles shift, there is a surprising comfort level on Electric Arguments. It's quite obvious that there weren't many rules, if any. And the collaborative setting is once again one in which McCartney is at his best.

The 13 song project was recorded in just as many days. Each day devoted to a singular track. And from its bluesy opener to the trance-like "Lover's In A Dream" Electric Arguments does serve as a satisfying artistic journey for Sir Paul and its audience.

Just a few days before the release of his self-titled, debut solo album Neil Young performed two nights at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The highlights of those two evenings (November 9th & 10th) nearly 40 years ago are soon to be uncovered as the third release in the continuing Archives Performance Series. Interestingly, Sugar Mountain – Live At Canterbury House, 1968 will be labeled as the first volume (Volume 00) with volumes 2 & 3 already available.

Similar to the archive release Live At Massey Hall, Sugar Mountain presents Neil in a very intimate solo setting. But the timing of this record is much different. Being that this show took place just days before his first solo album; the set list relies heavy on songs from his Buffalo Springfield days including solo performances of "Mr. Soul", "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing", and "Broken Arrow" among others.

Sugar Mountain, like the other archive releases, will energize the Young faithful. The start/stop attempt at "Winterlong" (not yet completed at the time) is a nice treat, the rambling between songs is quite endearing and the title-track will have the extreme fans recall Decade, where the first song from this show actually surfaced.

The Canterbury House, which has been hosting live music for over 50 years, was an early forum for some legendary acts including Young, Richie Havens, and Joni Mitchell. Sugar Mountain reminds us how important these voices were.

Twenty years since her eponymous debut, Tracy Chapman continues her brand of confessional songwriting on Our Bright Future, her 8th studio album. Quite frankly, the timing couldn't be much better. It's not easy to find an artist that expands upon one's reflection of the world as effectively or with as much ease as Chapman.

As expected both from Chapman's past work and the present title, Our Bright Future hits on social issues and ponders a number of questions. Songs like "Something to See" and the title track stand as platforms for social discussion. "Something to See" explores the idea of a world sans war and greed. While surely not the first with this revelation, Chapman engages us to by substituting aggression for thoughtfulness. And don't be fooled, the album's title track avoids optimism, instead begging whether "our bright future is in our past?"

Despite Chapman's eloquence surrounding heavy topics, Our Bright Future does offer up some lighter, clever moments. Listen to "I Did It All." A swaying toe-taper with fluttering piano and clarinet juxtaposed to a scene of alcohol induced, tabloid fueled youth. Hardly what you think when you think Tracy Chapman.

Regardless the topics, when Chapman sings you listen. On Our Bright Future, she stills harnesses that comfortable, captivating voice that made us first fall in love with her nearly 20 years ago.

.Best known as the front woman of the indie rock outfit Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis has once again strapped on her country-soul boots for her second solo record, Acid Tongue. An all-star cast of musicians accompany Lewis including M. Ward, Elvis Costello, Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes and Johnathan Rice - to name only a few.

While the sound of Acid Tongue is a bit looser than Lewis' debut (Rabbit Fur Coat) and certainly a distant relative to her work with Rilo Kiley, the centerpiece of the new album is, again, her vocal prowess. Lewis jumps with ease between voices that in one instance exhibit the elegance of Dusty Springfield while at other times the grit and attitude of Lucinda Williams.

Standouts are not hard to find on Acid Tongue. The title track laments "unlucky love" with a chilling wall of church-like harmonies at each turn. "Carpetbaggers" is a jumpy and excitable collaboration with Elvis Costello, a must listen. And clocking in just less than 9 minutes, "The Next Messiah", is a 3-part adventure that Lewis embarks on with songwriting partner Johnathan Rice.

Simply put, Acid Tongue is more entertaining than Rabbit Fur Coat. Lewis is more confident in her approach and the results are quite disarming.

For someone that has released at least one album per year since 2000, it would have been quite odd not to dig into a new Ryan Adams record before December's end. Rest assured... Cardinology from Ryan Adams & the Cardinals is here. And oddly, for an artist that spends most of his time writing, Adams has been touring quite a bit this year. In fact, for most fans the first opportunity to hear much of this new material was likely in the live setting.

The title of the record speaks volumes, especially after your first listen. It seems no longer that "the Cardinals" play the role as a backing band, but more so they've matured into a single, cohesive unit.

For the most part, Cardinology follows most closely with its immediate predecessor, Easy Tiger. Country-edged tunes like "Born into a Light", "Fix It" and "Evergreen" are easily transferable. "Magick", along with being one of the album's finest moments, is perhaps the records most surprising track as it's a welcomed recollection of Adams' punk rock attitude reminiscent of his Rock n Roll release.

Still at the heart of Cardinology we find Adams thoughtful and reflective in his songwriting. Adams ability to make personal struggles feel so universal through song is really what makes his music so engaging. And once again, on Cardinology, Adams nails it.

Lucinda Williams' new album Little Honey is a welcome return to the sound and spirit of releases like Car Wheels On A Gravel Road or Essence. While the new album may not approach the overall greatness of Car Wheels especially, it does have a revitalizing spirit about it, and sounds great in light of her recent "sleep & weep" albums.

Chrissie Hynde sure hasn't changed a whole lot since we first got a glimpse of her staring through stringy black hair, appearing urbanely street-smart in her red leather jacket from the cover of the Pretenders album in 1980. As Break Up The Concrete shows, she still has the wit, emotion, and backbone to write rock songs that seem to easily cut through the clutter. Armed with that talent – and with her remarkable, almost one-of-a-kind voice – the new album is an easy thumbs-up, much more of it's time than the last album (2002's Loose Screw) was.

With long-time drummer Martin Chambers taking a powder on this recording, Pretenders is really more of a concept than a band these days. Hynde did do a good job with the musicians this time around, including grabbing veteran Jim Keltner to replace Chambers behind the kit. There's also a real immediacy to this set of tunes, a rambling, rocking Americana (not the music format, but the concept) vibe throughout that probably owes a lot to Hynde spending a of of time back home in her native Ohio. It was the urban decay of her hometown of Akron that inspired the title track, a hippy dream drenched in a fierce Bo Diddley beat. The short, to-the-point rockers like "Don't Cut Your Hair" and "You Didn't Have To" sound great, but there's also the way lovely "Love's A Mystery" that reprises sublime ballad-y Pretenders moments like "Lover's Of Today" or "Show Me".

It's been 28 years since her first release, and Chrissie Hynde is still making every effort to prove to everybody that she may be pretending, but she ain't no joke...